How to save $1,000 really, really fast.

Caleb and I have been pretty aggressive as of the first of the year, and are finally down to ONE loan...albeit, a big, fat, honking' loan, but still...ONE loan!!!! I'm thinking back to just a few months ago when taxes were due and we had pretty much depleted more than our "emergency savings" fund because we were new to this irregular income thing. Luckily we've become a lot more responsible now and save for those throughout the year ;) BUT I wanted to share how important it is to have a savings as your backup.

It's so nice to have an emergency savings - because when something DOES come up (whether its a car issue, an appliance that needs repaired, etc.), you're pretty much covered. Because trust me....something WILL eventually happen, which means you won't have to turn to any credit cards with crazy high interest rates! WOO! If you've always lived paycheck to paycheck, it can seem nearly impossible to save up $1,000 fast, but trust me, you can do it! Dave Ramsey suggest $1,000 for married couples, or $500 for singles. We keep ours at a separate bank so we're not tempted to touch it, but that's not necessary. Here are just a few ways to help:

-Cancel your cable, or just downgrade your package. That'll easily save you around $100/mo.

-Quit your daily/weekly Starbucks/Dunkin trips. Trust me, you don't need it. This can save you over $100+/mo! I actually know people who go to their favorite coffee shops daily on their commute to work (aka nearly every co worker at my firm)! It blows my mind. I love a cup of sugary goodness every now and then but, daily?! Too much!

-Stop the Target trips. Trust me, ladies, before we got married, I was used to dropping $30-50/trip - EASY! Save yourselves gas and time, and don't go until your savings is up, or unless you actually need something (easier said than done, I know!!).

-Sit down and do a monthly budget. Look at where you spent your money last month, and cut out unnecessary spending!

-If you have talents, use them to your advantage. That's how my photography gig got started. Come up with a price point, and see if people are interested! You never know until you try. If you're into photography like me, a couple shoots here and there and you're set with a new portfolio to show off!! If you're a designer, start working with bloggers or businesses! Find what you're good at and share it with the world! It'll pay off!

-Pack your lunch! It really adds up, and can be so tasty (and usually healthier)!!


-Sell your crap! You've probably got clothes you can sell to a local consignment shop, junk you can get rid of in a yard sale, etc.!

-Carpool with friends when you go to dinners/work/etc. Paying for gas is never fun.

These might be obvious to some, but implementing them is so important, if you want to succeed! Pick one, or a few, and see how much extra money you're able to save!!! Caleb and I can't even wait to be out of debt, we know that saving our 3-6 months of emergency savings will be even easier when we don't have debt tying us down. I can't wait to get there!! Just a few months to go.

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!!

Crazy ways to save a buck!

By now (and if you've met the besties Sallie & Perkins) you know Caleb and I are trying to get out of debt as FAST as we can. Aside from him working overtime where he can, and me booking extra photography gigs where I can...there ARE other ways to save money.

So I decided to come up with a list of crazy things that Caleb and I do to save money! Remember...when you have that "Gazelle intensity", who cares if people think you're weird?

Weird is good.

Among many other things, Caleb!

- Sometimes (this is slightly embarrassing), I'll cut open the bottom of the toothpaste tubes to get the last out of it. Same with my foundation...this usually adds a couple weeks onto the life of my products!

-Caleb's cousin works at a local pizza shop, and he's allowing Caleb to deliver pizzas on the side for a few months...to throw extra cash towards debt at a rapid pace.

-Entering giveaways. Typically on blogs, I love those. I recently won an adorable necklace off of my girl Ashley's blog! My favorite kinds of giveaways are the gift card/cash ones...so that way my man & I get FREE date nights instead of having to cut into our own budget. I also sign up from websites like Woman Freebies, that have sweepstakes almost daily, and tons of free stuff to win!

-Downgrading our cell phone minutes/data plan, read about that here! We saved over $40/month!

-"If you're not using it, unplug it" ... get CRAZY with this. Phone done charging? Unplug it and leave it right under the outlet. Done with the toaster? Unplug that, too. You don't have to get AS crazy as I do (even Caleb thinks I take it a little too far), but hey, its kind of fun.

-My crazy husband likes to keep the temperature on 68-69 ALL summer which didn't make me very happy when Duke delivered our energy bill. So I try to keep it around 71 now! The higher the temp, the cheaper your bill.

-Manufacturers coupons, those are AHH-mazing. Typically each one saves you about $1.50+...and that stuff really adds up.

-Kroger has "Freebie Fridays" (thanks to a college friend for this tidbit! Heey Sierrah!), and if you sync your Kroger Plus Card online, they let you upload freebies on the card...you can walk in, grab your stuff, check out and walk right out with FREE stuff. Last week was $6 shampoo/conditioner! This week its toothpaste!

-Take advantage of social media, follow companies on Twitter and talk about their products or things you love. I recently talked about the long weekend trip we were taking to Arkansas, and Gillette sent me a new razor with TWO replacement bars to go with it... (a value of over $13!)

-Shop out of season. You can get things for up to 70% off sometimes! Caleb and I joke that we should start celebrating holidays the week after they really take place, so we get a better deal.

So there you have it, just a few tips I can give you to lower your monthly expenses and KILL DEBT faster!!

Remember, imagine what you can do with your money (and the kind of wealth you can build!) when you have NO DEBT PAYMENTS!!!

What would you do with all that extra cash??

Friday, freebies, fun!

Hiiiiiiiii again Friday. I've missed you!

You all know I love free stuff. Erin and I were just talking yesterday about how free things literally make our heart skip a beat. When I get a free sample in the mail, my heart does its own little happy dance.

So imagine my excitement when Chick Fil A tells me I can reserve a FREE breakfast entree this week? I get one for me and my man on Saturday morning and BAM... free breakfast date.

As most of you know by now, Caleb and I are actively trying to pay off debt...if you didn't know that, read this post first. 

So as you would imagine, we're doing all we can to cut our expenses down from an already low figure monthly. When we got married, Caleb talked me into leaving Verizon (best service ever), and switching to Cincinnati Bell to save $$..and it did....but last night, we spent about an hour at T-Mobile, trying to see if we could get an even better deal than we already have at Cincinnati Bell for our monthly cell phone bill.

 Turned out it wasn't going to be as easy as we thought.

So we got home, our heads hung low in defeat...

until we had the bright idea to LOOK at our monthly statement online. See if WE could lower our bill at all. Ever done that, friends?

We wanted to actually see how much of this "unlimited* data package" (*not-so-unlimited) we were even using. Long story short -- we weren't using anywhere NEAR our "allowance". We also had a ridiculous amount of minutes left! Together, we weren't even close to hitting 1/4 of our minutes allowed, and the month is almost over!

So, we looked at different options online and took our package down to 200 "peak minutes" each...which means from 6am-9pm I get 200 minutes for the month, any other hour of the day is free to talk as much as my big mouth can...

and instead of having "unlimited data", we gave ourselves 5G's each. You see, with Cincinnati Bell, if you're connected to wifi (which we have in our house, and at work)...it doesn't count against your data plan.

Score!

Moral of the story -- we saved $45 a MONTH on our wireless bill. That is an extra $540 a YEAR we can put towards debt! So worth it. So friends, take a good look at your bills. You may be paying for a lot more than you're getting.

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND!

Yes, I used two ecards in my post today...and no pictures. #bloggerfail

The year is halfway over!

...and if you're anything like me...it seems like Christmas sneaks up on you.

EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.

Now that Caleb and I are married, and we've been budgeting every paycheck (month by month)...there is something we have to add to our savings.

Our Christmas fund.

Don't get me wrong...we won't be going anywhere near as crazy as we have in the past years...we have to be a little less giving... but don't worry, we make up for that in creativity. If you ask me, getting creative with gifts is so much fun. I think it adds a little something that money just can't.

I know its hard to think about Christmas when in most states right now, it doesn't feel like summer. It feels more like our skin is on fire every day the clock hits 10AM. Which I like to call, blazing...BUT...can you imagine for a moment, not having to CHARGE your Christmas presents on a high interest rate credit card!? Or even worry about forking out all the money at once.

What if you just saved a simple $50 a month (if you work full time...that's just an easy $25/paycheck!)?! You would have an easy $300 to spoil your favorite people. If you're on a tight budget like Caleb and I...that will easily MORE than cover all of our gifts for everyone...just remember, you have to channel your inner creativity as well.

If you ask me...creative, "from the heart" gifts, are my favorite.

Like the time I made Caleb a personalized coupon book this past Valentines Day.

& like the night he asked me to be his girlfriend and we made corny tee shirts for each other...

or like the time I literally made an entire day-long Scavenger Hunt for Caleb that sent him traveling ALL around Cincinnati to meet me at the Aquarium.

...it never gets old. 

So, friends...start saving! ;) Christmas will be here quicker than you think. Remember...its NOT about the gifts...its truly about spending time together and remembering all of your blessings. I just truly love giving! It's the coolest feeling. Can't wait to pay off our debt, build wealth, and then be able to do some random acts of kindness for complete strangers and all of our best friends.

Happy Tuesday, friends.